Two Chicago police officers killed in a tragic accident by a metro train

On Monday evening, two Chicago policemen reacted to shots being fired. They ended up giving chase to the suspect to try and apprehend them.

However, the policemen were struck by a train on the Far South Side. Both officers died in the line of duty.

After the tragic incident on Monday, Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson held a news conference. He revealed that officers Eduardo Marmolejo, 36, and Conrad Gary, 31, responded to a ShotSpotter notification of shots fired shortly after 6 p.m.

The incident occurred at 101st Street and Dauphin Avenue. When the policemen arrived they confronted the suspect, who promptly ran away.

For more on this story go to our Twitter account @amomama_usa. The suspect ran up to the train tracks at 103rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue with the two policemen still giving chase on foot.

At 6:20 p.m. both officers were struck by eastbound train No. 119. Both policemen were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted that “A devastating tragedy occurred tonight.” Marmolejo had been with the department for 2 ½ years and Gary had been an officer for only 18 months.

The police revealed that they were questioning a person of interest who was not immediately identified. They also stated that a weapon was recovered.

According to Mike Noland, a spokesman for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, when the officers were struck there had been 500 to 600 passengers on the train. None of the passengers sustained any injuries.

Hours after the officers’ deaths, dozens of Chicago police officers went to Marmolejo’s home in West Beverly. On the sidewalk, they were seen exchanging pleasantries and hugs.

It appeared that no one was home at Gary’s house. Speaking at the news conference Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the incident was another example of the risks officers take every day.

He stated:

“There they were responding to ShotSpotter, doing their job, trying to protect the rest of us. We’ve lost two young men, both fathers with young families. This holiday will never be the same for those two families. And while our hearts are with them, we lost people who answered the call to make Chicago a better place.”

In an unrelated incident in South Africa, a police officer was killed after an alleged drunken driver failed to stop at a roadblock. Police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters revealed that police officers from Atteridgeville police station were conducting a roadblock on the R511 and R512 on Saturday.

A speeding vehicle failed to stop and knocked down a female constable who succumbed to her injuries on the scene.